Christmas Savings Clubs: Don’t Leave Father Christmas Short Changed

I’m sorry, I know you’re sick of hearing about it. I will try and make this the last time I bang on about Christmas for at least 11 months. I wonder how many of us are looking at our wallets / purses / bank accounts and just feeling a bit miserable. Christmas can be such a lovely time of year, but it is also very destructive for finances.

How can we stop this from happening next year? I’m a big fan of saving for annual events, such as Christmas, and as such I do this anyway. This is also the case for many other people, and there are organisations that help people to save for Christmas through monthly payment schemes. Of course, there are normally difficulties with this way of doing things, and of course there were the horrendous evens of a few years ago when one of these organisations went bust, leaving many families without their planned Christmas budgets.

A few years ago, when I was less organised with my money, I used to give money every month to my mother in law, who returned it to me in December. It was useful being able to access it whenever I wanted, as it meant that if I saw something throughout the year that I thought would make a good present, I could buy it. I also trusted my mother in law (which helps) and this meant that I didn’t have to worry about the safety of my money. I now trust myself as well, which is excellent, and means I can just move £18.75 a month to my savings account, and have £225 for presents, which normally covers all I need to buy.

Why not start a ‘Christmas Club’ with a group of friends or family. Elect someone to collect your monthly (or more regular) deposits, and keep track of them in a book (and look after the actual cash) so that you can make sure you have the money you need at Christmas. This seems like a very simple idea, because like most good ideas, it is simple. Happy saving…